Eddie Trapasso March 7, 2002
             Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was an unusual man with an unusual point of view and that's what made him such a great writer. Vonnegut is very talented and used his talents in many amazing ways. He is a writer of science fiction, drama, plays, comedy, social commentary, as well as being an artist and orator. Vonnegut's brilliant novels and short stories won him a huge fan following that started in the 1950's and is still going strong today.
             Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born on November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana to Kurt and Edith Vonnegut. Kurt was the third of three children and was a fourth generation German American. (Magill's Survey Of American Literature 2009). Kurt's father and Grandfather were both prosperous architects. Kurt's father was very prominent in the German section of Indianapolis. Kurt and his family suffered during the great depression. They were shaken by the Anti-German feelings moving throughout Indianapolis (Current Biography 429). Kurt's father, along with being a prosperous architect, was a brewer and was hit especially hard during prohibition. (Vinson 420). With no homes or buildings to build, and no alcohol to brew the Vonnegut family suffered through a period of poverty that deeply affected young Kurt. The depression became the basis of many of Kurt's writings, where he portrayed unemployed people, like his father, who felt purposeless as a result of their loss of work (Vinson 420).
             Vonnegut was enrolled at Shortridge High School. It was there that he gained his first writing experience. Kurt wrote for, and became one of the editors of the Shortridge Daily Echo, his school newspaper, which happened to be the first daily high school newspaper in the country. (Lustbager, Online) Kurt's daily writings helped him learn to appeal to a large audience with many different tastes. Kurt graduated from Shortridge in 1940. Kurt's fa...